You're Still the One

Part 11: The Prospect of Hope

Mera didn't know what to say, she had hoped that they wouldn't meet again. She knew that when Mike started working at PH, the likelihood that she'd run into Harvey would increase but she wasn't prepared for it being this soon. She didn't want her worlds to collide, she wanted to keep her life as a budding lawyer separate from her life now.

"It's been a while. I saw you and EJ about three months ago, I thought he was mine for a second. Did you see me? You disappeared when I started heading your way" asked Harvey.

"I did see you, I just walked away. I'm sorry, I just couldn't talk to you, so much had changed in my life and...I couldn't explain everything. I was ashamed, not of EJ or anything but of myself. When we first met, I was this eager young paralegal with a love of law, who was fighting her way to the top. Now, I'm not even a lawyer, a practising one. Plus, there was EJ, I didn't want you to connect him and the whole Hayes saga."

"Mera, I always thought you were a good lawyer, not as good as me but still good. I know that hasn't changed, you've proven that. I don't think you've changed as much as you think you have, the situation, your life has changed but you're still the same lawyer I met," said Harvey, reaching across to hold Meredith's hand, "I wouldn't have cared that you had a kid and while it feels wrong to say, I would not have been opposed to casual hook-ups. We could have kept doing what we were doing even though the circumstances were different. I enjoyed our dinners together and honestly, you having a kid probably would have kept me from being attached. Damn I'm being insensitive, sorry."

"I don't think I could do what we did back then again, I can't do the casual thing anymore, especially with EJ. I don't really think I can do a relationship at all. I wasn't a good sister or granddaughter after Hayes. I wasn't in a good headspace after, I became so apathetic, I ignored everything even what happened, Mike would try to talk to me about anything, and I just ignored him I yelled at Grammy. I heard MJ and Grammy talking about it one night and I just had an epiphany the next day and decided to pull my head in. After everything I put them through, I need to concentrate on them, they come first."

"I understand, but you are a good person, Mera. You don't have to put your life on the backburner because of what happened. You aren't doing your grandmother, Mike or EJ any favours but not living your life. Just think about it, you were managing everything before, there's no reason you can't handle it all now."

"Harv... thanks. You're a good person as well. I always thought you were a fantastic lawyer but underneath that arrogant lawyer is a good person, it's one of the reasons I liked you so much."

"You weren't too bad yourself. Thank you for explaining it to me. We good? We'll probably be seeing each other more cause of Mike."

"Yeah, we're fine. Thank you for helping Mike, he loves it here."

"Of course, he does, I'm the best," said Harvey, smirking.

Mera laughed, leave it to Harvey to boast about himself at any given chance. Harvey looked at Mera laughing and smiled. He always did like her laugh. Harvey was always surprised at how easy it was to get along with Mera, he never met anyone like that before until her, and Mike.

I'm a sucker for a Ross apparently.

Before they could continue catching up, EJ came running into the office, closely followed by Mike and Donna.

"Mama!!" squealed EJ, jumping up on the couch between his mother and Harvey, "we gots lunch. Hi Har'vy."

"Hey munchkin, you were supposed to wait until for us," said Mike.

"Not a muc'hkin. Sorry for inte'uptin'."

"It's fine, kid. We were done talking anyway. What did you bring us for lunch?" asked Harvey.

The group settled on the sofas and let EJ carry the conversation. Mike stole glances and his sister, to try and decipher what happened between her and his boss while they were gone. He hoped they settled whatever was going on between them for his sake at least, he didn't know what he would do if he had to choose between them, he loved his sister, but he loved working with Harvey and was starting to see the man as an older brother figure.

"Meredith, do you do anything other than taking care of EJ and the rookie here? From experience, I know that looking out for Mike here is a full-time job," asked Donna.

"Hey!" exclaimed Mike.

"Haha, I agree completely. I'm only glad that you have to watch for most of the day now," joked Mera, "But no, I work as a consultant for some old clients but that's rarely. And I work at a club."

"Do you want to back into law properly?" asked Harvey.

"I've got other things to focus on," said Mera.

"She's lying. She never really got out of law. She just doesn't work for a firm," said Mike, glaring at his sister. He hated it when she downplayed herself.

"What do you mean?" asked Donna.

"She says she's a consultant, but she writes all the contracts and does half the negotiations for those 'old' clients. It's why Richard Bailey knows so much about deals when he comes in or why Bradley James has such base good contracts and knows what caveats to put in," said Mike, proudly.

"Okay, MJ" said Mera, shaking her head, "I'm happy doing what I'm doing."

"You're doing a good job, I've seen some of your work with James and Bailey," stated Harvey, "You should consider getting back into the game."

"Thanks, but no... I'm not interested."

"She's scared," said Mike, ignoring the look of outrage on his sister's face, "about what people, firms, would do once they connected her to the whole saga."

"I had enough of the judgment and rejection what I tried to apply for jobs at firms after I had EJ. I don't need to put myself through that again."

"You should try, you're doing great but even I can see that you love the game as much as Mike," said Donna, adding her two cents.

"Yeah, firms would be stupid not to hire you. You should think about consulting for a firm or being a head-hunter for a firm, finding clients for partners," said Harvey, already thinking of ways he could get the okay from Jessica to hire Mera.

"You like that idea," said Mike, catching the look of contemplation on Mera's face.

"Yeah, of course I do. But there's still an issue about whether anyone would want to hire me or work with me" stated Mera glumly, knowing the likelihood of this working was low.

"What about here? With me... us?" asked Harvey.